Intertextuality
by Lifelessmidget
Summary: There's definately something different about the way Harry is acting and Draco is determined to find out what... even abandoning his usual taunts by attempting to help him out...kinda... Updated and completed... Added a few things ]


Title: Intertextuality

Author: Lifelessmidget

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Rating: T

Genre: Romance

Summary: The eyes tell what the heart can't say… but in this case, it is the opposite.

Authors note: Inspired by Hilary Duff's song "Now you know"… and there is only brief reference to books… so this is like an AU, also there are different points of views between the boys.

-----

The aristocratic fingers entwined themselves in the jet black hair, roughly pulling the head of Harry Potter to face the stormy grey eyes lingering in the air above him.

Green eyes connected with the grey ones, telling of the despair, contempt and excruciating pain they were experiencing, yet no tears fell for the fallen. Bitterness lay behind the orbs for those included in the ranks of Lord Voldemort however the determination had diminished a notch to that of a beggar on the street.

"Leave me alone, Malfoy" the darkening voice stumbled to form the words he did not wish to say. They stood by the Hogwarts lake, caught up in a tumble of arguments, mainly one-sided to the success of Draco Malfoy.

Despite the overall fact that he was victorious, the Slytherin clenched his fists in the strands of the green eyed boy, wishing more than anything for them to respond the way they did three years ago.

"Dammit Potter, stop being a mindless prick!" the words exploded from within the blonde boy as he loosened his grip on the hair and grasped the boy's shoulder, turning him around forcefully to face him.

Harry's eyes averted from the now piercing grey ones "I don't need your advice, I just need you to leave me alone" he pushed the hands away from their position on his shoulder, and stepped past the Slytherin to gaze further into the lake. The sunlight followed the ripples forming along the water, leaves floated past his eyes to land delicately by his side and he could feel the essence of life in the nature around him… along with the dark electricity tracing the edges of his emotions.

He sensed the attack rather than felt the blow, the force of the punch propelled him forward into the shallow end of the lake, drenching him top to toe in water and reeds. His green eyes turned vicious "What the hell is your problem Malfoy?!"

Anger was hardly a word in Draco's vocabulary at the current moment, his hand itched for his wand but opted for the next best thing, and pounced on the drenched form of Potter attempting to make the boy see straight. He didn't even bother replying to the comments flowing rapidly from the Gryffindor tongue as they thrashed about in the water.

Flecks of water splashed against the bank and the sound of violent water ceased, to reveal the two boys caught up in a headlock, both simultaneously, and at that moment they exchanged a intense look, the grey clouding the green.

"Explain…"

-----

It was third year when Draco began to notice the decreased flair within Potter's responses and retorts to his snide comments. The originality of the comebacks were becoming more predictable until there was no response at all.

His sidekick friends even noticed a change in the Gryffindor, treading carefully around him and expressing their concern to professors who suggested a visit to Madam Pomfery. After such a diagnosis by his own Gryffindor friends, Potter ceased contact with them which surprised even the most doubting Slytherin.

Spending most of his time writing in a journal or writing letters in the library, Potter started to become isolate from the real world, devoting all his time to useless matter as it seemed to Draco. The Slytherin calculated the times in which Potter wrote a letter or some form of literature and was astonished to note, the quill in the calloused hands was never set down. There was a possible time that it was placed down for Potter to refill it with ink, but ignoring that fact… the writing didn't seem to stop.

Every day, it was the same act… and by the end of each day, none of the letters were either sent or re-read… instead they were discarded in the most destructive manner… by flame.

Twenty three day's and counting the Slytherin had hid behind the bookshelves, pretending to read books about potions, spells and histories in order to figure out what the whole deal with Potter was. His grey eyes watched as people entered, attempted to talk some sense into the green eyed boy and supposedly failed. This would have been rather understandable to an extent by Draco Malfoy, but he realised that many of the people who came to talk to Potter were either cheerful about the whole ordeal or seemingly understanding… the problem concerned was the manner in which the other boy received the information.

"Look, just stop telling me what to do alright? Just leave me alone!" It was after the first month had past that Harry Potter had burst from his good-natured friends. The visits to the library had been banned once Madam Pince had heard of the disruption.

"MR HARRY POTTER!" her voice sent chills up any neighbouring students spines, including Draco's "LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!" and with that, the green eyed boy was hauled out of the library.

So began the search for a new place to write his pathetic letters, Draco followed the Gryffindor careful enough not to be exposed to any questioning, not that the other boy would have said anything anyway, their conversation factor had dropped a notch below zero and Potter would even have the nerve to look away from Draco whenever they made eye contact.

It made Draco's blood boil.

-----

After undergoing a rather pathetic form of depression, Harry ended up being forgiven by his friends, however the personality exposed was more secretive and lacking the usual aptitude.

The green eyes no longer sparkled the same innocent emerald colour as they did back in first year, instead they had taken on a dark hue giving the impression that they were somehow corrupted… Professor's and students alike noticed this change yet judging by all the information given, they could only describe it as a shortage in nutrition.

Nutritional plans were prepared by Hermione and followed out by Harry in precise order in apologies for the ignorance he had portrayed to his friends the previous year, nevertheless… although his pasty skin had taken on a better colour, his eyes remained the same.

He had also noticed a change in the notorious blonde Slytherin, the grey eyes seemed more suspicious than normal and even though it seemed as if he was concealing himself very well… Harry could always sense the evil aura emitting from those eyes. Being followed by Malfoy on the other hand, proved to be rather interesting despite the fact Harry was experiencing something between depression and stress.

It was only pure coincident though, that Malfoy was the one person which the emotions involved.

On a particularly hot day, he had excused himself from his group of friends to go to the lavatory which he later on noted, was possibly due to the hinting look in Ron's eyes about engaging in a game of Wizarding Chess.

When he finished splashing his face with the icy water Hogwarts dungeon toilets tended to procure so conveniently, he had spotted in the broken mirror the form of Draco Malfoy snogging a dark haired Slytherin in the cubicle behind him. They hadn't taken the time to close the damnable door but the thing that surprised Harry more was the fact that the person whom the damnable blonde had his lips locked with was none other than a _boy._

Without even so much as a response, the green eyed wizard strode out of the bathroom… slightly flushed and for some reason feeling all the more worse than he would have been losing to Ron at a chess game. He let out a guttural growl as he slammed past the door to the toilets, not noticing another blonde boy poking his head out of the neighbouring classroom, scribbling something down in a notebook.

"Hey Malfoy, was that good enough for you?" the two snogging couples exited the lavatory when they were certain the Gryffindor had disappeared. The fake Malfoy raised an eyebrow at the real one jotting down more things in the little notebook "Do you really need to know why Potter is so delusional? It's probably just hormones after all… he didn't even chuck a fit"

The real Malfoy looked up and rolled his grey eyes before reaching into his pocket and passing a vial to the fake one "Here, drink this and you'll go back to normal, I'm sure you had a heck of a time being me Parkinson… Now we're square"

Fake Malfoy popped the cork of the vial and downed the bog coloured substance with an expression of disgust, right before their eyes the blond hair shed to reveal shoulder length dark hair, the grey eyes shimmered once and changed to the dull brown they usually were and the formally male body transformed back into it's female self.

Pansy's pug-like face appeared before them with a sigh, she agreed with Malfoy's deal of silence and pulled her kissing companion away from the busy blonde Slytherin.

Draco looked down at his elegant scrawl, attempting to pin point exactly what it was that made Potter pissed off more, the act or the person involved?

He smirked at the progress in the book, by the end of the week, he would have all the information he needed to confront the self righteous Gryffindor.

-----

The force of the blow made Harry fall flat on his back, his glasses askew and school robes ruffled to the point that they looked as if they had rivers running down the shoulders. He squinted up at the offender, trying to block out the sun and avoid getting hit again.

"Famous Harry Potter, can't even fight back" The bulky form of a student Harry had never met before in his life was towering over him, yet despite his huge bulk, it didn't seem to block out the inevitable sun. His wand lay out of reach, but even if he had it in his grasp, the Gryffindor wouldn't have had the heart to cast any spells…

"Where are your friends huh? No back up today?" a snicker from the boy as he picked Harry up again.

The green eyed boy felt drained and only half of what the other had said managed to become coherent in his flooded mind. Although he attempted to struggle against the fist grabbing his collar, there was no use. He waited for the next blow to be delivered.

"Stupefy!" A crisp voice cut through the air and an enormous jet of fiery red light hit the large boy square in the back, causing him to fall forward atop the green eyed boy.

Draco had come out looking for Potter that day, his book out and ready for the confrontation he sorely wished for from the boy but when he saw the scene before him… something snapped inside him. Something definitely wasn't right with Potter if he wasn't fighting back… wand or no wand… and there was that something else…

The Slytherin basically bellowed the spell, his grey eyes widening slightly at the monstrosity of the magic. He walked over to the fallen figure and pushed him off the Gryffindor with his foot, looking down into the green of his victims eyes.

No words were exchanged… only a searing glare which then changed to nothing at all… Draco ended up levitating the limp form of Harry to the hospital wing for Madam Pomfery to work on, but not before casting a memory charm on the stunned attacker. He doubted Potter would remember anything that happened to him but even so, Draco left him a chocolate frog for when he awoke.

Now all that was left to do was to find those good for nothing Gryffindor 'friends' of Potter's and teach them a lesson of empathy…

-----

"Seriously, I never knew that ferret had it in him" Ron's voice pierced through Harry's thoughts. The blurry outline of his friends met him when he opened his weary eyes, he could recognise the infirmary walls and almost immediately reached for the bedside table in search of his glasses.

A soft hand pressed the frames into his hands and he thanked Hermione for them. Then the bombardment of questions came flowing into his mind.

"Honestly Harry, how could you just let someone beat you up? You're a senior now! You have the right to report this and stop anything from happening" the muggle born witch sighed, attempting to help the boy sit up. His wounds had been healed sufficiently and he looked as if nothing had happened to him. Ron was still in a huff about Malfoy but Hermione shot him a glare.

"You should be grateful that he brought Harry to the infirmary… he didn't have to do it you know… judging from the fact that you boys never get along with the Slytherins" Harry blinked at this, he looked from Hermione's wary expression to Ron's pink-tinged face.

"Malfoy did…" Harry didn't have any words to describe what had happened to him prior to the hospital visit and apparently that was all he could manage to say due to the constant bickering.

Night fell as Harry recalled the moment where Madam Pomfery shooed his two friends out of the hospital wing for 'making so much racket' and he actually felt a sense of relief wash over him while he watched their apologetic looks disappear from the room.

His eyes lingered on the student in the opposite bed… the one whom Malfoy had cast the spell on. His unconscious form continued to unnerve Harry the longer he stared at him… he didn't even comprehend why the boy was hitting him in the first place. The whole ordeal seemed fazed before Harry's mind and the harder he tried to concentrate on the problem at hand, the more difficult it became to grasp.

He looked down at his hands and noticed the small nicks where the relentless quills had managed to cut him. Why couldn't wizards use a more efficient method of writing? Pencils and pens of the muggle world were definitely more easier to manage. Harry picked at his fingers all the while trying to come up with a possible reason why he didn't fight back.

Depression, fatigue, unwillingness to come to terms with his other problem… It must be the third as he scanned through the thoughts in his mind. Sighing in contempt, he pulled the covers off and walked as silently as he could out of the infirmary. The cold stone washed over him when he leaned against one of the walls, a soft wind coming from the open library doors drew him closer and it didn't occur to Harry why anyone would be awake at this time and let alone be lurking around in the library of all places.

A single candle flickered slightly as Harry's eyes got used to the darkness, he crept around the bookcases and peered through the stacked books on the other side of the table from which he sensed the person would be at. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he saw a scatter of parchments, quills and one little notebook haphazardly flipped open and scrawls of black ink splattered across the page but there was no one there from what Harry could see.

Harry then felt a wash of coldness over him as the cool tip of a wand pressed to the back of his neck "Turn around" the voice commanded, and if it wasn't for Harry's concentration on the magical object then he would have been able to recognise the voice in an instant.

He did as he was told and then felt a wave of anger when he was confronted with the face behind this. "Malfoy!?"

The blonde Slytherin blinked trying not to look too surprised at the identity of his eavesdropper.

"What, might I ask, are you doing out of the infirmary Potter?" he asked lowering his hand before walking around the bookcase motioning for the boy to follow. Harry sat opposite the blonde and eyed the papers suspiciously. "Charms… don't avoid the question" he heard the boy mutter.

"Don't really like the hospital wing, despite the numerous times I've been in there, too hostile…" Harry replied wondering why exactly he had decided to answer without any malice. Since when had Malfoy become human?

"Now will you care to tell me why you got involved with that brute's cousin?" the green eyes followed those slender fingers as they packed up the remainder of quills and parchment. The block like books levitated themselves and slotted into their appropriate places.

"What? How did you…" but a wave of a hand silenced Harry.

"Just answer the question"

The Gryffindor sighed in defeat and decided that he might as well answer the Slytherin "I had no idea he HAD a cousin in the first place, plus it was a mutual agreement to keep things silent among one another… something which definitely wasn't upheld" he slumped back in his seat wondering how he had managed to get himself into yet another pot hole.

"Well would it make you feel better if I told you they are no longer your concern?" the candle flickered slightly at the abrupt hand wave. Draco propped his chin on the palm of his hand.

Harry blinked at him "What?"

A smirk "Well, let's just say that I subjected them to a little Malfoy-Memory tweaking"

If anything, Draco expected Harry to at least smile or show some graciousness towards him, but he definitely didn't expect the boy to stand up wide eyed with anger and slam his fists on the table top.

"WHAT?! Malfoy what in blazes do you think you're doing casting memory charms on people?!" the crack in the green eyed boy's voice surprised him, why was he getting so hysterical?

"Why are you getting so worked up, I HELPED you Potter" Draco glared up at the boy, moving his parchments out of the Gryffindor's reach for fear of it being swept off the table by those calloused hands, which seemed to be itching to wring his pure-blooded neck.

"I didn't ASK for your HELP Malfoy? Why the hell did you get involved, for Merlin's SAKE" and with that, Harry stormed off leaving Malfoy in a very confused wake.

The next day Madam Pomfery tended to the fading bruises on Harry's face before discharging him. The first thing he did was rush off to Moaning Myrtles bathroom where he found his mystery…or should we say previous partner, engaging in some serious snogging with Pansy Parkinson.

"What in bloody fuck…" Harry stood there gaping at the two, until one of them finally plucked themselves off the other's lips and glared at him.

"Get lost Potter, before I start taking point off for intruding in Prefect duties" Pansy shot out, her face twisted in an attitude of victory. Blaise Zabini's face appeared from behind her bob of dark hair looking thoroughly snogged and rather dazed.

Harry fingered the chocolate frog in his pocket, trying to deny the fact that Blaise obviously didn't remember him but as he twirled out of the bathroom, he felt somewhat relieved to be free from that tying relationship… if one could call practising fellatio on the boy a relationship.

There was something about the way those vicious retorts which reminded him why he had stayed so long… no, there was nothing romantic about his connection with Blaise… pure adultery one would put it.

As he rounded the corner, he missed the smirking blonde leaning immaculately against an alcove.

-----

Draco knew his role in life.

He was to become part of Lord Voldemort's scheme in order to capture Potter off guard and impress his father for all its worth.

But something about that plan had him feeling slightly nauseas… he didn't find the idea of being marked a great ordeal, the thought of a tattoo upon his skin crudely marking his flawless inner arm was enough to make anyone sick. His father always told him of the riches and power one would obtain with this mark… but that didn't stop Draco from wondering why his father always cringed so painfully under the mere mention of his Lord's name.

He hadn't received the so called Dark Mark yet, though that didn't prevent the rumours from being dished out, the scathing remarks from other houses and the looks of pride upon students in his own house. Draco was certain that Potter knew of his imminent marking though the green eyed boy seemed to want to avoid any possible contact with the Slytherin. Whenever they passed each other in the corridors or made brief eye contact over the great hall, it was Potter's eyes who looked down first.

If anything, this made Draco even more determined to be taken seriously.

It had only been a week since he had witnessed Harry's encounter with Blaise and Pansy (the set-up was courtesy of himself) and he was hoping for a better response from the surly teen. Draco even noticed that the Mudblood and Weasel were taking notice of all the odd behaviour surrounding their friend though they carefully avoided any questions that would cause a tantrum or otherwise.

Why the walking on eggshells around the boy? The Slytherin decided that the only way to fight was with fire… and a hint of malevolence.

Which is how he found himself in a headlock with the Gryffindor, demanding an explanation for all the childish behaviour.

Harry's downcast eyes threatened to make Draco slap the boy silly, instead he grabbed the boy's chin and lifted his head to face his grey eyes "Potter, you look at me when you talk to me"

"I…" his jet black hair stood up in different angles, some dripping with water and others sporting bits of seaweed from merlin-knows-where. The lake water had thoroughly drenched both of them from top to toe and Draco could only imagine how horrendous he looked. His fingers were still clutching Harry's chin and he quickly withdrew them but not before Harry's encircled his wrists.

He felt rather than saw the other boy push up the soaked sleeves of his robes to examine his inner arm.

"I… rumours… you didn't know?" the garbled response from the green eyed boy made Draco raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Potter, I don't think that anyone would understand what you mean by that response" the grey eyed boy folded his arms and managed to still look superior despite the fact that he was dripping with lake water.

The other students in Hogwarts were either too busy scuffling off to their classes or snogging in the bushes to notice the blonde and brunette climb out of the lake and deposit themselves on the bank, side by side.

"Well?" Draco said as he squeezed his sleeves. Harry eyed his attempts for a minute before casting a drying spell on the both of them.

"Ilikeyoumalfoy" the muttered and jittery response, now it was Draco's time to blink.

"Potter, I don't like repeating myself"

"Great, nor do I… I'll be taking my leave now" Harry made to get up but was roughly pulled down

"I said explain"

Deep breath

"I. Like. You. Malfoy"

Pause

"And?"

Shock

"You KNEW?"

Harry had turned so abruptly that the seaweed in his hair succeeded in splattering against Draco's face, the slender fingers plucked it off and flicked it away as if nothing happened, the only thing that showed he cared was the raised eyebrow and narrowed eyes.

"No as a matter of fact, I didn't know but I do now… and that doesn't explain your irresponsible behaviour and groping of my arm… which by the way you have yet to clarify as well"

"Oh that… Dark Mark and all…" the green eyes looked slightly worried at his previous outburst.

"And if I was to receive it… will your bout of insanity go away?"

Silence

"Potter, if you can't even handle me joining the ranks of You-Know-Who then I'm frankly surprised that you managed to survive all these years"

Draco got up and started to walk towards the Great Hall.

"Don't go…"

He stopped in his tracks and smirked back at the now standing Gryffindor. "And pray… tell me why?"

"Malfoy, I'll get over my crush, I'll forfeit the next Quidditch Match… hell I'll even be your servant for a week… just don't go to him!"

If Harry was surprised that Draco walked back to him, he didn't show it but the blonde's response made his jaw drop.

"Make it a month and I'm yours"

-Fin-

feedback appreciated!


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